scholarly journals South African public sector procurement and corruption: Inseparable twins?

Author(s):  
Pandelani Harry Munzhedzi

The article seeks to explore the relationship between procurement in the public sector and corruption. Corruption in the procurement process is one of the biggest challenges facing the South Africa government. Procurement in the South African public sector through the tendering process has been used with a particular aim of addressing the past discriminatory practices and policies by empowering the previously disadvantaged majority. It ought to operate within a certain legislative and regulatory framework. However, the article argues that in the process of implementing the good intentions of the government, corruption illegitimises the process. There are also challenges that are associated with public sector procurement, with corruption being the main protagonist. The article also seeks to suggest possible solutions that could be used to address the anomalies. The article further concludes that the main reason for the rife corruption in the public sector is that there is nonadherence to policy prescripts including the Public Finance Management Act, 1999 (Act 1 of 1999) and the Municipal Finance Management Act, 2003 (Act 56 of 2003). This enormous predicament may only be addressed if the government were to show will and commitment by punishing offenders who do not comply with the said legislative framework.

2013 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Micheline J. Naude ◽  
Intaher M. Ambe ◽  
René Kling

The public sector is recognised as being one of the most important customer groups for many suppliers and service providers because of the volume of public expenditure. Supplier relationship management (SRM) is a necessary tool on which businesses in the public and private sectors rely. However, in the South African public sector, despite the intention to boost service delivery through efficient and effective supplier-management processes, the development of sound supplier relationships is a challenge. The purpose of this article is to provide insight into supplier-relationship challenges and to suggest a framework for implementing SRM in the South African public sector. The research presented is based on a survey using both descriptive and exploratory research. Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews with 15 participants at eight institutions in KwaZulu-Natal. Purposive sampling techniques were used. The findings reveal that the main supplier-related challenges that handicap procurement practices in the province are a lack of experience, a lack of affirmable suppliers, threats and bribes, a lack of integrity, an inability to meet delivery deadlines and quality issues. The findings further reveal that supplier relationships in the public sector are of a transactional nature. A five-stage framework is therefore recommended for implementing SRM in the South African public sector and in order to assist government procurement officials to reap the benefits of SRM whilst supporting the requirements of public-sector procurement.


2008 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 15
Author(s):  
Maniam Kaliannan

The quest to improve the government service delivery is becoming an important agenda for most governments. The introduction oflCT in the public sector especially E-Government initiatives opens up a new chapter in the government administration throughout the world. Governments have deployed ICT to serve their citizens in an efficient and effective manner. This paper presents an empirical investigation of Malaysian government's e-Procurement initiative (locally known as e-Perolehan). The aim of the paper is to examine factors that influence the current and future use of the system within the supplier community. These factors are grouped in three perspectives, (i) organizational perspective; (ii) technological perspective; and (Hi) environmental perspective. The general consensus amongst both the buyer and seller communities is that e-procurement will become an important management tool to enhance the performance of supply chain especially in the public sector. However, before this occurs, the findings suggest that several issues must be addressed by the relevant authorities in light of the three perspectives as mentioned above, to improve the procurement process at the federal government level.


2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 196-208 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nirmala Dorasamy ◽  
Soma Pillay

This purpose of this article is to explore impediments to effective whistleblowing as a strategy for promoting anti-corruption practices within the South African public sector. Corruption, which violates the public service code of conduct; deters foreign investment, increases the cost of public service delivery, undermines the fight against poverty and unnecessarily burdens the criminal justice system. The article addresses the question on whether legislation on whistleblowing is adequate to encourage whistleblowing in the public sector. A review of literature determines that the effective implementation of whistleblowing legislation is largely dependent on addressing the challenges identified in the article. The quantitative research method was employed in the study to ascertain the views of employees in the public sector on whistleblowing. Empirical findings confirm the hypothesis that the protection of whistleblowers through legislation is inadequate to encourage whistleblowing. The article provides a conceptual framework for the effective achievement of the intended outcomes of whistleblowing in the public sector.


2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Razeen Davids ◽  
Thabiet Jardine ◽  
Nicola Marais ◽  
Julian C. Jacobs ◽  
Sajith Sebastian

The seventh annual report of the South African Renal Registry summarises the 2018 data on kidney replacement therapy (KRT) for patients with kidney failure in South Africa. In December 2018, the number of patients who were being treated with chronic dialysis or transplantation stood at 10 730, a prevalence of 186 per million population (pmp). Most patients are treated with haemodialysis in the private healthcare sector, where the prevalence was 839 pmp. In the public sector, which serves 85% of the South African population, the prevalence of KRT (67 pmp) remained below the level reported for 1994. Limpopo and Mpumalanga remain the most under-served provinces and Blacks the most under-served population group. The Western Cape province had the highest public sector treatment rates by a large margin and was also where most of the country’s public sector kidney transplants were performed.


Curationis ◽  
1991 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
M.E. Muller

The threatening crisis in the nursing profession, especially in the public sector, led to a national investigation that was directed to the HMAC. A national nursing manpower analysis was undertaken by private consultants by means of a descriptive survey. A registered nurse/population ratio of 1:416 was recommended by the South African Nursing Council and accepted by the HMAC. The demand presently exceeds the supply and an actual annual student output of 4000 is required It was also emphasized that only 65% of the college capacities are being utilised and a potential supply of matriculants amounts to 3300 p.a. Important recommendations include active marketing of the profession, phasing in of a registered nurse/population ratio of 1:416, as well as an appropriate increase of posts for students, tutors and clinical nurses.


2009 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Greorg H. Backeberg

The South African government has committed itself to creating “a better life for all”. Furthermore, government performance became important for the South African government with the introduction of the Public Finance Management Act. Backeberg (2005) uses systems thinking to propose a holistic transportation performance quantification framework to achieve the above. The purpose of this research is to validate the above framework by demonstrating its practicality and usefulness. This is done by populating the framework with representative transportation statistics from various sources. The study demonstrates how improvements could be prioritised if adequate information were to be available.


1976 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 117-139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lowell J. Satre

Edwardian England has become an increasingly significant period for scholarly research. One of the more carefully examined subjects is the interrelationship between politics and army reform. The debacles of the South African War forced the governments to examine England's army, and reforms emerged after 1901. Historians have concentrated on the efforts of Balfour's administration of 1902-05 and Haldane's sojourn at the War Office from 1906 to 1912; these periods witnessed the emergence of the Committee of Imperial Defence and the reorganization of the War Office, the shaping of the General Staff and the development of the British Expeditionary Force. All of these have been subjected to detailed examination — notably, the C. I. D. in recent works by Peter Fraser and Nicholas d'Ombrain, and the War Office by W. S. Hamer.There is, however, at least one gap in the historical literature on politics and army reform: St. John Brodrick's term as Secretary of State for War, 1901-03. An understanding of Brodrick's activities is necessary, since he was, of course, the first War Secretary to attempt reforms as a response to the obvious shortcomings of the army in the South African War. A careful examination will explain why he failed in many of his programs, the political consequences of these failures, and some of his more positive contributions.The breakdown of the British army in the first few months of the South African War, which began in October 1899 and ended in May 1902, shocked and dismayed both the public and the Government.


2016 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 41-53
Author(s):  
Ayanda Pamella Msomi ◽  
Elias Munapo ◽  
Ireen Choga

The South African public sector is faced with many challenges and one of the major challenges is service delivery. This is linked with skills shortage resulting in public service having too many people to train in a short period of time. Training these many employees face-to-face has its challenges, as employees have to be away from their day-to-day duties to attend training and this not only has an impact on productivity, but also maximizes costs. To deal with and to minimize these challenges, the South African government has chosen to introduce e-Learning in public sector. This is aimed at ensuring that larger numbers of government officials are trained at minimum costs and ensuring that training reaches people with different responsibilities such as top management and people with families who cannot afford to be away from home or office for training for long periods of time. This study examined the advantages and disadvantages of the introduction of e-Learning in the public sector, the importance of strategic planning for e-Learning, the challenges faced by the public sector when it comes to training, how other organizations internationally have conceptualized e-Learning and what the public sector is hoping to achieve by introducing e-Learning. The gaps in the conceptualization of e-Learning in the South African public sector were identified and possible solutions including a paradigm shift from a reductionist way of thinking to a systems way of thinking and doing things was recommended. Keywords: e-Learning, public sector, benchmarking, conceptualization. JEL Classification: H83, A2, G21


Author(s):  
Manasseh M. Mokgolo ◽  
Maoka A. Dikotla

Background: Poor management of disciplinary cases in the South African public service departments is on the rise. The management of disciplinary cases, amongst other things, has drawn considerable criticism from within the public sector, various media outlets, interest groups and even opposition movements. The government has adopted progressive discipline prescripts to inculcate and promote a culture of professional ethics and accountability. In the workplace, objectivity, consistency and fairness are an important part of healthy employer–employee ties.Aim: The study sought to obtain an in-depth understanding of disciplinary cases and describe the challenges senior managers face when managing disciplinary cases in the public service departments.Setting: Both the national and provincial public service departments of South Africa.Methods: The study adopted qualitative modernistic research approach. Semi-structured electronic questionnaire was used to collect views from 751 senior managers.Results: Public service employees are deprived of organisational justice because of weaknesses associated with the discipline management. This is because management of disciplinary cases and sanctions in most national and provincial departments in the public service is perilous and incongruent with the discipline management prescripts.Conclusion: Based on the findings, the current practices do not deter future violations of discipline management prescripts; inconsistent, unfairness and injustice application of sanctions and management of cases and future misconduct in the workplace. Therefore, the authors recommend the use of team-based and progressive discipline to ensure that staff contribute effectively, efficiently and ethically to the goals of the government. The present study contributes to the existing body of knowledge on human resource management and organisational behaviour and provides a platform that broadens an understanding of the amplifying toxic management of disciplinary cases in the South African public service context.


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